Reclining lift chairs find widespread use. A reclining chair usually has a seat, backrest and footrest operable with three-way reclining mechanisms among three positions, a fully upright position, a TV position and a fully reclined position. In the TV position, the seat and backrest are partially reclined and the footrest extended, while in the fully reclined position, the seat and backrest are fully reclined and the footrest extended.
FIG. 10 shows a reclining chair frame having the three-way reclining mechanisms. The three-way reclining mechanism assembly utilizes a conventional L-shaped position holding member 1 to hold a desired position among the fully upright position, the TV position and the fully reclined position. The conventional L-shaped position holding member 1 is pivotally connected to a seat link 2, an end of a stop link 3 and an end of a brace link 4, respectively. The stop link 3 and the brace link 4, in turn, are pivotally connected to a base mounting plate 5 by the other ends. For such a design, however, it has been found that when the lift chair is in the full recline position, an unintended falling of the footrest 7 may occur when the footrest 7 is idle, i.e., no force applied thereto, or when a force, F, is applied thereto. The unintended falling is unsatisfactory in terms of the comfort it provide for the occupant.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.